by John E. Dannenberg
The California Court of Appeal held that the Los Angeles (L.A.) County Sheriff was immune from suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for injuries suffered by a prisoner who claimed his suffering was due to jail housing policies that failed to protect him from other prisoners. ...
by John E. Dannenberg
On August 3, 2006, North Carolina Governor Mike Easley signed into law H-1323, a bill creating an eight-member Innocence Commission wherein prisoners who have exhausted their court appeals but still claim they were wrongly convicted may reopen their convictions by offering new evidence not previously considered ...
by John E. Dannenberg
The federal court Receiver for healthcare in California state prisons (see: PLN, Mar. 2006, p.1, Federal Court Seizes California Prisons? Medical Care; Appoints Receiver With Unprecedented Powers) surmounted his first statutory bureaucratic obstacle to gaining constitutional healthcare. On October 17, 2006, U.S. District Judge Thelton E. ...
by John E. Dannenberg
On September 20, 2006, Tennessee-based Prison Health Services (PHS), a for-profit prison medical care contractor [see: PLN, Nov. 2006, pp.
1-10], exercised an escape clause just ten months into its ten-year $645 million contract to provide medical services to 25% of Florida?s prison population. The company ...
California Inspector General Assesses DOC's Compliance With Past Audit Recommendations
by John E. Dannenberg
California's Inspector General (IG), Matthew Cate, who has oversight responsibility over the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), issued an exhaustive 363 page Accountability Audit reporting the degree of compliance with 22 earlier separate IG ...
by John E. Dannenberg
The United States District Court (N.D. N.Y.) rejected the New York Department of Corrections' (NYDOC) attempt to moot a class action claim filed by HCV (Hepatitis-C) infected prisoners who had sued to receive treatment for their deadly disease. The principal roadblock to treatment had been a ...
by John E. Dannenberg
On October 27, 2006, the U.S. District Court (C.D. Cal.) issued an ?Order to Show Cause (?OSC?) re Issuance of Preliminary Injunction or Temporary Restraining Order,? plus imposed initial restraints, regarding the ongoing unconstitutional overcrowding at the Los Angeles County Main Jail (MCJ). These conditions were ...
[Certified Jailhouse Lawyer Program Proposed]
By Evan R. Seamone, Esq., Reprinted from Yale Law & Policy Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (2006), pp. 91-147.
Reviewed by John E. Dannenberg
Attorney Evan R. Seamone wants to promote justice by raising the stature of jailhouse lawyers nationwide. He proposes having a mini-Bar ...
by John E. Dannenberg
On May 25, 2006, Kent County, Michigan agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit for $275,000 brought by the family of a Grand Rapids man who died of a heart attack suffered after struggling with arresting police. County officials denied any liability, but paid off to ...
Confronting Confinement, A Report On Safety and Abuse In America's Prisons, Vera Justice Institute (2006), 118 pp.
Reviewed by John E. Dannenberg
The Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons released its June 2006 report Confronting Confinement which concluded, "What happens inside jails and prisons does not stay [there]. ...
